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OracleMetaLink
OracleMetaLink is your self-service support connection with web, telephone menu,
and e-mail alternatives. Oracle supplies these technologies for your convenience,
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With OracleMetaLink, you can obtain
information and advice from technical libraries and forums, download patches,
download the latest documentation, look at bug details, and create or update TARs.
To use MetaLink, register at (http://metalink.oracle.com).
Alerts: You should check OracleMetaLink alerts before you begin to install or
upgrade any of your Oracle Applications. Navigate to the Alerts page as follows:
Technical Libraries/ERP Applications/Applications Installation and
Upgrade/Alerts.
Self-Service Toolkit: You may also find information by navigating to the
Self-Service Toolkit page as follows: Technical Libraries/ERP
Applications/Applications Installation and Upgrade.
Do Not Use Database Tools to Modify Oracle Applications Data
Oracle STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that you never use SQL*Plus, Oracle Data
Browser, database triggers, or any other tool to modify Oracle Applications data
unless otherwise instructed.
Oracle provides powerful tools you can use to create, store, change, retrieve, and
maintain information in an Oracle database. But if you use Oracle tools such as
SQL*Plus to modify Oracle Applications data, you risk destroying the integrity of
your data and you lose the ability to audit changes to your data.
Because Oracle Applications tables are interrelated, any change you make using
Oracle Applications can update many tables at once. But when you modify Oracle
Applications data using anything other than Oracle Applications, you may change a
row in one table without making corresponding changes in related tables. If your
tables get out of synchronization with each other, you risk retrieving erroneous
information and you risk unpredictable results throughout Oracle Applications.
When you use Oracle Applications to modify your data, Oracle Applications
automatically checks that your changes are valid. Oracle Applications also keeps
track of who changes information. If you enter information into database tables
using database tools, you may store invalid information. You also lose the ability to
track who has changed your information because SQL*Plus and other database
tools do not keep a record of changes.